04/18/2025
ATTENTION ALL NEW JERSEY HOMEOWNERS, HOME BUYERS, and REALTORS- If you haven't heard, Governor Murphy has proposed increasing the 1% Mansion Tax to 2% for homes exceeding $1 million and to 3% on sales exceeding $2 million starting in 2026 .
A $1 million home is a starter home in many of our towns, and the reality is that inflation and the dramatic rise in home prices have placed that price tier firmly in the middle class for many parts of New Jersey.
New Jersey is a high-cost state, and affordability has become a significant concern considering the average sales price for single-family home rose to $698,804 in 2024. Comparatively, that number was $309,000 in 2014.
The average age of the first-time buyer is now 38, which is the highest ever. While other generations have been building wealth through homeownership, our kids are falling behind, and this hurts them even more.
As far as the move up buyers, for many it is cost prohibitive for them to give up their 3% rate for a 7% rate, and if this passes, for a 2700 square foot $2Million house in our towns they would need to pay $60,000+ in Mansion taxes. That same house was $1,200,000 5 years ago., with a mansion tax of $12,000 and a 3% mortgage rate.
This tax only creates further roadblocks towards the goal of affordability in New Jersey. We should be incentivizing people of all price brackets to sell to mitigate the inventory crisis we have on residential homes rather than imposing additional fees that will halt our market even more.
Inventory in New Jersey has been below average for the past decade, with just 12,042 single-family homes for sale in December of last year, when in December of 2014 there were 41,165 single-family homes for sale on the market.
Everyone, please call or text Governor Murphy's office ASAP before this is slipped through and approved like the first Mansion tax was. sms:+1-732-605-5455
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